December 25, 2023
“And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Christ our Lord was born in a stable 2000 years ago. This baby was born in utter humility with the first people told of his arrival being shepherds in the field. Jesus is the King of all creation, yet he did not enter the world as a wealthy or powerful person desiring to be served. He showed his love to us by entering the world as a humble man seeking to serve us. It was the love of God that caused Christ, the only Son of God, to be sent to earth. God had set the standard of righteousness, the Greek word translated as righteousness is dikaiosyne, this word has a beautiful definition-the condition acceptable to God. God clearly explained his acceptable condition in the law he gave to Moses. Yet mankind consistently failed to live up to that standard of righteousness. The greatest expression of love God could have ever given to us was him coming to us as “Immanuel” to resolve our sin problem by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead in order to give us a way to be restored to Him. So, we each must ask ourselves if we have confessed our failure to meet God’s acceptable condition, our sin, and turned to Christ as Lord. By this we receive Christ’s righteousness and are looked upon as holy and blameless before God.
Lord, lead me to Christ as my Lord and Savior. Remind me daily of the miracle that was accomplished by the work on the cross to defeat sin and death and make it possible for us to come into your presence. Let this lead me to serve you completely with my life.